Fidelity Bank Plc today hosted its 31st Annual General Meeting in Lagos, which provided an opportunity for the board of the bank to make public details of its operating performance.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Chaired by Mr Ernest Ebi, the AGM was an avenue for the banks board to review the past year FY 2018 and set the tone for the next phase of its plan in FY 2019 .
In his statement Mr Ernest Ebi, MFR said, “In 2018 Fidelity Bank delivered the highest Profit-Before-Tax in our history. Despite the headwinds in the domestic economy, the bank grew profit Before Tax by 31.57% from N19billion in 2017 to N25billion in FY 2018”.
The External Auditor Ernst and Young represented by Mr Jamiu Olakisan, FCA stated that “Fidelity Bank kept proper books of account for its 2018 FY and the statement of financial position and that of profit or loss and other comprehensive income are in agreement with the books of account”.
Also the Chairman of the Statutory Audit Committee Chief Frank Onwu in his report said “The accounting and reporting policies of the Group and Bank conformed with the statutory requirements and agreed ethical practices”.
Shareholders like Dr Farouk Umar, Chief Timothy Adesiyan, Mr Patrick Ajudua in their various remarks commended Fidelity Bank Plc on its FY 2018 performance and the payment of an 11k dividend, hence representing a dividend yield of 5.6% on the banks recent share price of N1.94.
The MD/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo in his remarks said, “Digital Banking gained traction during the year with almost 40% of our customers now enrolled on mobile/internet banking products and about 81% of total transactions now done on our digital platforms”.
Highlights of the event was the endorsement of the 11k dividend approved by the board of Fidelity Bank and the re-election of board members Pastor Kings Akuma and Chief Charles Umolu.
From analysis of the banks profit and loss accounts Total Interest Income of the bank grew by 4.2% to N153.7bn in FY 2018 from N147.4bn in FY 2017.
The Cost of Risk fell to 0.5% in FY 2018, compared to 1.5% in FY 2017, while the bank’s Non-Performing Loan ratio dipped to 5.7% in FY 2018 from 6.4% in FY 2017.
Also, the Coverage ratio went up, rising to 110.7% in FY 2018 from 109.4% in FY 2017.